Street-car brake



(No Model.)

J. H. WRIGHT.

STREET GAE BEA'KE. l N0. 395,414. Patented Jan. l, 1889.

Urn STATES PATEN reich.

JOHN ll. WTRIGHT, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

STREET-CAR BRAKE.

SPECFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 395,414, dated January1, 1889.

Application filed October 25, 1888.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known thai-.1, JOHN I-I. WRIGHT, residing at Bridgeport, in thecounty of Fain field and State of Connecticut, have in vented certainnew and useful Improvements in Streetllar Brakes; and l do declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact descrip-V tion of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part ofthis specification.

My invent-ion relates to an improvement in brakes for street-ears, theobject being to provide such brakes with adjustable handles andrelief-clutches of simple and durable construction, and securing afacility in the braking of a car not before attained.

lith these ends in view my invent-ion consists in a brake-handle havinga coupling-pin and an operatingiever therefor, in combination with abrake-post having a collar provided in its periphery withretaining-points to receive the said pin.

My invention further consists in the combination, with the brake-post,of a chain-ban rel mounted so as to turn thereupon, and a clutch-headfeathered upon the post and adapted to be coupled with and uncoupledfrom the said barrel.

My invention further consists in a stirrupshaped brace for the lower endof the post; .in guards for my improved relief-clutch mechanism, and incertain other details of construction and combinations of parts, as willbe hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the aeeompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view, partly in frontelevation and partly in vertical section, of a brake embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is a broken plan view of the plat-form with thelnalte-'post in section and the oper;ding-lever in brolieulines. liig.fl is an enlarged brolten view of the brakehandle in transverse sectionon the line a l) of Fig. l. Fig. i is an enlarged detached perspectiveview of the loelcing-pin- Fig. 5 is asimilar plan view of thelocking-collar. Fig. (i is a similar view of the retainingeplate. Fig. 7is an enlarged broken view in vertical section of the relief-clutchmechanism. Fig. S is a detached view in elevation of the clutch-head and chain-barrel. Fig. il is a de- Serial No. 289,122. (No model.)

tached face view of the clutch-head, and Fig. .10 is a similar view ofthe upper end of the barrel.

As herein shown, the brake-handle A is of ordinary form in its generaloutline, and provided at its lower end with a vertical bore, B, acircular chamber, C, located below such bore, and with a straight-walledslot, D, leading radially out of such chamber and through the adjacentinner edge of the handle, the lower end whereof is faced down, as at E,to

receive the retaining-plate l?, as will be hereinafter described.

A iiat horizontal pin, G, having squared edges and located in the slotD, is provided at its outer end with a neck, ll, receiving the forkedend of a hand-levenl, secured by a pivot, J, to the under side of thehandle. A spring, K, secured to the handle, and interposed between thesame and the manual or longer end of the lever, holds the same normallyin position to be operated for withr drawing the inner end of the pinfrom the chamber C aforesaid, into which it normally projects. Thebrake-post L is reduced at its upper end to form a spindle, M, whichenters the bore B in the handle, and is provided with a fixed collar, N,located at the base of the spindle, and having eqnidistant transverseslots O, forming retaining-pointsI each of which is adapted to receivethe inner end of the iiat pin, and so rigidly couple the handle with.the post.

The retainingplate F, before referred to,is secured by screws to thelower end of the handle and cut away at its inner end to tit around thepost at a point under the collar, which, being of greater diameter thanthe pest, offsets from the same and virtually forms a shoulder, whichcoaets with the plate in holding the handleupon the post. Under theconstruction described the handle may readily be shifted in its relationto the post and rigidly coupled therewith in another relation. by simnply using the fin gers to operate the han d-lever in retraeting the pinfrom the collar, after which the handle is turned to the right positionand the lever released to permit the pin to re-engage with the collar.

The relief-clutch consists, in part, of a clutch-head, l?, secured by afeather, Q, to the IOO lower end of the post, encircled at its upper endby a groove, R, and provided upon its lower face with two correspondinglugs, S, located side by side, and with a wider lug/17,10- cateddirectly opposite them. These lugs are adapted to iit in correspondingslots U U and V formed in the upper edge of the barrel lV, upon whichthe brake-chain. X is woundsuch barrel being provided with a chamber, Y,at its upper end, and with a longitudinal bore, Z, which extends throughit. 'lhe lower end of the post is reduced to form a spindle, A', overwhich the barrelis sleeved,.the chamber in its upper end receiving thelower end of the post in its full size. A fork, B', entering the grooveR in the clutch-head l), formed at one end of an operating-lever, C',fulcrumed in the platform D' of the car on a pivot, E', and engaged atits outer end by the spindle F' of a foot-button, G', vertically mountedin the said platform in convenient position for operation by the driver.A spring, H', secured to the underside of the platform, engages with theouter end of the operatinglever, and has the twofold function ofnormally maintaining the coupling between the elutclrhead and the barreland of sustaining the foot-button in position of constant readiness foroperation. rlhe lower end of the barrel is supported upon theoffsetting-Macketl' of a stirrup, the upper ends whereof are secured tothe platform of the car, the said step being provided with an opening,li', for the spindle A', which passes through it. rlhe post is securedagainst vertical displacement by a Cotter-pin, L', passed through thelower end of the spindle at a pointbelow the bracket aforesaid. Thestirrup braces the lower end of the post against the strain of thebrakechain, tending to bend it baek. A collar, M', secured to theclutch-head, is adapted to inclose the lower end thcafeof and the upperend of the barrel, and forms a guard against the entrance of any foreignmatterinto the clutch. A guard, N', secured to the forward edge of theplatform, incloses the upper end of the clutch-head and prevents theaccess of for eign. mattei' thereto. A ratchet-wheel, O', rigidlysecu'red to the post, rests upon a bearingplate, l", secured to theplatform, and having an opening, Q', through which the post passes. Adouble-ended pawl, R', pivotcd to this plate, is engaged with theratchet by the driver, who operates it with his foot in the ordinarymanner.

ln operating the brakes of a car the brakehandle is often brought to astop in a position in which it is either in the way or difficult tomanipulate it from, or both. My invention surmounts this difficulty byenabling the driver to uncouple it from the brakepost, shift it withreference thereto and re couple it therewith, and all without moving hishand from it and by swinging it with his hand and manipulating thehand-lever with his ngers.

It is often difficult and inconvenient, es-

peeially when the front platform is crowded, to take off or relieve thebrakes for starting up the car. The ordinary way to do this is todisengage the foot-pawl from the ratchetwheel, whereby the brake-post isfreeto revolve and permit the chain to unwind lfrom the barrel; but thisinvolves the sweeping of the handle around with the post, and that takesroom. Ny invention provides a convenient mode of relieving the brakes byuncoupling the barrel from the post. This .is done by the driver, whoputs his foot on the foot-button and so lifts the clutch-head away fromthe upper end of the chain-barrel, which then rotates on the post andpermits the chain to unwind while the post remains stationary. lVhen thechain has unwound, the driver sweeps the handle around, and as soon asit is brought back tothe position it was in when the brakes wererelieved the clutch-head is re-engaged with the barrel by t-he springprovided for this purpose. lt will be noted that the barrel and head arenot recoupled until the handle is in its right place again. This resultsfrom the construction of the head and barrel, so that they will coupleat only one point in the circle of their rotation, and the object ofthis is to avoid the trouble of constantly resettin the handle, as wouldbe necessary if it were not for bringing it back to the place where itwas left when the brakes were on. The functions of the stirrup and theguardhave, itis thought, been sufficiently described already.

lt is apparent that my adjustable brakehandle and relief-clutch maybeused independent] y, if desired; or, in other words, that either or bothof these features may be applied to the braking mechanism of a car.

I would have it understood that l do not limit myself to theconstruction shown and described, but hold myself at liberty to makesuch changes and alterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scopeof my invention.

llavin fully described my inven tion ,what l claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. ln a brake mechanism, the combination, with a handle having ahorizontal couplingpin and an independent hand-lever for operating thesame, of a post carrying the handle, which is swiveled upon its upperend, and having a fixed collar provided in its periphery withretaining-points to receive the pin, which is radially moved toward andaway from its periphery by the said hand-haver, substantially as setforth.

2. ln a brake mechan ism, the combination, with a handle havin g a flatsquare-edged couplin g-pin and a spring-actuated hand-lever foroperating the same, of a post carrying the handle and having a iixedcollar provided in its periphery with a series of transverse slotscorresponding in shape to the end conformation of the said pin,substantially as set forth.

3. In a brake mechanism, the combination, with a handle having aeoupling-pin and a IOO IIO

hand-lever for operating the same, of a post carrying the handle andhaving' a fixed collar provided with retaining-points to lreceive thepin, and a retaining-plate secured to the handle and holding the sameupon the post, substantially as set forth.

4. In a brake mechanism, the combination, with a post, of a chain-barrelsleeved over the post, so as to rotate freely thereupon when releasedfor unwinding the chain, a clutch-head feathered upon the post close tothe said barrel, so as to be directly engaged therewith to lock thebarrel for winding the chain and to be disengaged therefrom to releasethe barrel for unwindin the chain, substantially/f as set forth. v

5. ln a brake mechanisimthe conlbination, with a post, of a chain-barrelsleeved over the same, a clutch-head feathered on the post and adaptedto be normally coupled with the head, the face of the head and the upperend of the barrel being' constructed to couple when brought into onespecific rela-tion and in. no other, whereby the handle returns to its.right position after using the relief-clutch, substantially as setforth.

li. In a brake mechanism, the combination, with a post, of aeliain-bz'trrel sleeved over the same, a clutch-head feathered on thepost and adapted to be normally coupled with the barrel-head, and levermeehan i sm connected with such head and arranged to be operated by thedriver with his foot, substantially as set forth.

7. In a brake mechanism, the combination, with a brake-post, of a handlelocated at the upper end thereof, a stirrup-shaped brace secured to thecar and provided with an offsetting bracket through which the lower endof the post passes, a chaiirbarrel sleeved over the post, so as torotate freely thereupon when released and resting upon the said bracket,and means for locking the barrel to the post and releasingittherefrom,substantially as set forth.

8. In a brake mechanism, the combination, with a brake-post, of a handlelocated at the upper end thereof, a chain-barrel sleeved over its lowerend, a clutch-head feathered upon the post and adapted to be normallycoupled with the barrel, lever-connections with the said head foroperating it to relieve the barrel, and guards inclosin g suchmechanisms from the dirt, substantially as set forth.

9. In a brake mechanism, the combination, with a brake-handle, of a postprovided at its upper end with an offsetting shoulder and aretaining-plate secured to the handle and cut away to iit around thepost, with the shoulder of which it engages to couple the post andhandle together, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

JOHN Il. lYRlGl-IT.

lVitnesses: SAMUEL Il. Manor, JOHN PALMER.

